Spotlight Series: Jane Jeffry Mysteries

Jill Churchill, winner of the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers Awards, and nominated for an Anthony for her best-selling Jane Jeffry series, lives as Jane does, in a midwestern suburb. On purpose! She says writing this series and the Grace and Favor series is the best treat she can have without a knife and fork.

Under her real name, Janice Young Brooks, and various pseudonyms, she's written historical novels, a gothic novel, and a history textbook as well as many articles for newspapers and magazines. When she's not writing, she's avidly doing genealogy which she says is a lot like mysteries with all the red herrings, clues, speculations, and surprises.

She gardens enthusiastically, needlepoints superbly, and plays a mean game of gin against the computer. She has a son and daughter and two granddaughters, Rose Louise and Emma. Janice is currently in a battle of supremacy with her cat Max.

I was a single mom when I came across the Jane Jeffry mystery series and Jane's character really resonated with me. She isn't a slacker, but she's not exactly a Type A mom either. Her husband died in a car accident and at the beginning of the series, she's just starting to think about trying to date again. She and her neighbor Shelley always seem to find themselves in the middle of murder investigations, partly because of their nosiness, but mostly because of Jane's strong desire to see justice done. After a few run-ins with detective Mel VanDyne, they begin to date and we get to experience dating as a single mom right along with Jane. The mysteries are always fun and Jane has a good reason to be involved in each case, usually. These books are becoming harder to find as the series goes out of print, but if you do come across one, I highly recommend checking it out.

Important Characters to Know
Jane Jeffry -Widowed stay-at-home mom to 3 kids. Aspiring author.

Mel VanDyne - Local homicide detective. Dating Jane.

Shelley Nowack -Jane's next door neighbor and partner in amateur crime detecting.

Jane Jeffry series
(in reading order, links lead to my reviews)

1. Grime and Punishment
2. A Farewell to Yarns
3. A Quiche Before Dying
4. The Class Menagerie
5. A Knife to Remember
6. From Here to Paternity
7. Silence of the Hams
8. War and Peas
9. Fear of Frying
10. The Merchant of Menace
11. A Groom With a View
12. Mulch Ado About Nothing
13. The House of Seven Mabels
14. Bell, Book, and Scandal
15. A Midsummer Night's Scream
16. The Accidental Florist

If you like the Jane Jeffry series, you should try:

The Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews

The Scumble River series by Denise Swanson

The Bed-and-Breakfast series by Mary Daheim

The Hemlock Falls series by Claudia Bishop

The Emma Lord series by Mary Daheim
The Sarah Deane series by J.S. Borthwick